X-Com: The Volunteer
by Icedark
Summary: Summary: Ever wondered what are the Ethereals trying to accomplish? Too bad none of us will know since the Temple Ship got blown up and the Volunteer saved us all with his heroic end… or did he really die?
1. Once More Into The Breach

AN: A plot bunny that will be continued if there is sufficient interest in the concept.

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=== Sky-ranger 01, Berlin, Germany – 12 Jan 1999, 21:23 PST ===

Blinking blearily at the light and faces above him, Jason struggled to get everything in focus as he heard a familiar but impossible voice calling out with annoyance in her tone.

"…ason, get your skinny arse off the ground this instant. We are reaching the drop-zone, this is no time for your antics. Damnit. You asked for this."

Huh that sounds ominous, Sgt Harper. Still remember your violent tendencies during boot camp… Too bad, you are de-

"OW Motherf- YOU NEARLY NAILED ME IN THE BALLS" Jason screamed as he shot up to a sitting position and a sharp jolt of pain came from his groin nearly coming into close contact with Sgt Harper's steel-capped boots.

"Glad you are back with us boy, ETA is one minute to drop, we have no time for you to pussy out on us and faint." Harper's melodic voice in that familiar contrast with her harsh tone came back to Jason as he stare stumped at her cute face which has fooled many recruit into getting curb-stomped by the harshest boot camp trainer ever.

"But you... are dead, you was killed in our first contact miss- UGHH!" As he tried to remember what happened before he blacked out, a series of disjointed images and voices came into his mind.

Volunteering. Connecting with the Device. The Temple Ship. The Uber Ethereal connecting to him as he stopped the black- Wait it wasn't a black hole. Concepts from the telepathic connection flooded into his head. Time-space loop. Growth. Stronger. Fight the true enemy. Wait underlying the concepts was a trace of… human emotion?

"-ike 1, you are go for drop."

"Get your head back in the game Jason, I don't want to lose my first rookie on this run." Harper's voice following the radio announcement jarred him back to focus on his surrounding.

Nodding instinctively, he hefted his plas- wait, is this a normal assault rifle… Damn what is going on here. Operation Devil's Moon? First contact again? Wait, these things can wait till we are back in base… Though if this mission is not a dream perhaps I can save everyone this time. Just keep my head down and let things run out first before I step in…

SHIT, don't go near that body Garrick. Dashing quickly out of his cover, ignoring Central's orders over the radio, Jason tackled Garrick to the side a bare instant before the grenade blew.

"Holy shit, Jason yo-" Without pausing or listening to Garrick, Jason tossed his friend into cover and leapt towards Harper's position firing inches away from her head… the rounds driving deep into the Sectoid's body, causing its laser shot to hit the roof with a loud sizzle drilling through the bricks.

Sensing psi-energies from the side, Jason's eyes widened… The Sectoid Commander? But he retreated immediately the last time- Of course, I changed things. As he sensed psi-energies hitting Garrick, Jason snarled and shot his free hand out with purple energy pulsing disrupting the mind control with a mindflay and shooting with his assault rifle.

Splattering the commander, Jason turned around to be faced with Harper's rifle in his face while Garrick and Thomas wiped out the last Sectoid.

"X-ray down. Central, we have Jason secured, do you copy. For emission of unknown energy and possible rogue actions, we are taking you in."

Oh shit, of course, we haven't discovered psionics yet…


	2. Hell Hath No Fury Like

AN: A short continuation of the plot bunny, once again confirmation of interest and whether my muse triggers will determine if an update is in sight.

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=== Sky-ranger 01, Berlin – 12 Jan 1999, 22:47 PST ===

"What the hell was that purple shit Jason? Are you one of them too?" Thomas jabbered away worriedly and nervously fingering his rifle.

"But that makes no sense, you saved my ass AND Sarge's pretty ass too.. WOAH, I take that back Sarge!" Garrick backed away gingerly from Harper's fist slamming down way too close to home as Thomas and Jason both flinched instinctively.

"Shut up all of you, maintain operational silence. We do not know whether Recruit Jason is an enemy operative or not. I better not hear a single peep out of you too Jason, we have no idea how your mumbo-jumbo works so any movement or words from you will be judged as hostile action."

Rolling his eyes, Jason thought to himself. 'Not sure if you guys realized but I can't reply OR move even if I wanted to. Black tape might be a soldier's best friend and go-to tool but seriously Harper? You frigging mummified me in black tape, I don't think I can even twitch my foot… Damn why does it always itch whenever you can't do anything about it…'

Grunting as he looked up at Harper's boot currently resting on his torso, stopping him from rolling around the Skyranger floor, Jason wondered how much longer it would be before this crap ride ended… Though there are some small perks to this angle as his eyes wandered upwards from the boot to Harper's unarmoured and very well-endowed torso which was unhindered by her shirt from this ang-

'Hmm.. why is it getting darker, OH SHI-'

"Poor Jason, at least you passed away with a great view…" Garrick muttered under his breath as he winced at Harper's boot crunching onto Jason's face.

=== Interrogation Room, X-COM Base – 13 Jan 1999, 03:11 PST ===

'T! Damnit. At least she didn't break my nose… Thank God for small mercies.'

"Awake I see. So Recruit Griffin, would you care to explain your lightshow and unexpected knowledge of the aliens?" The familiar voice coming from the shadowy figure relaxed Jason as he finally expected a swift conclusion to this ordeal.

Snapping off a salute and preparing to report concisely to the Commander, Jason only succeeded in toppling off his seat and a muffled "HMM HFFM" arising from his horizontal position on the ground.

"Oh dear, Sergeant Harper, I do believe I asked you to kindly remove Jason's restraints."

"But Sir! He could be a threat to your safety, we do not know how his powers work!"

'Oh Lord, Harper do you need to be such a hardass… You are probably just mad cause I sneaked a peek.' Jason shifted away from the death glare and rising boot as his eyes tracked the source of the voice to another possible good view…

"Nonetheless, I'm certain that if Recruit Griffin is a hostile, he would have had plenty of opportunities to wreck havoc instead of using his abilities to save the rest of the squad, so please release him, besides you and Lieutenant Moreu should more than suffice if he attempts anything." The voice of reason and intellect rang out and enforced the command with a hint of steel behind it.

Shaking his hands to get his blood circulating again as he was released, Jason barely managed to hold in an unmanly shriek of pain as Harper ripped the tape off his mouth tearing a significant portion of his stubble out.

"Sergeant, please refrain from excessively forceful actions unless Recruit Griffin proves hostile. Now then, Jason if you don't mind me calling you that, what exactly is going on? There are many theories floating around, with you being a secret agent from an even more secret and advanced military operation to assist X-COM to you being an alien turncoat, but I believe it is best to hear it from you directly so please."

Looking at the Commander's silhouette, Jason's mind raced as he decided if he wondered if they will even believe his story… Heck he wasn't even sure what happened himself. Opening his mouth, military instincts and quick combat reporting habits came into play and he gave his story.

"Time travel, sir… I think."


End file.
